Wynne vows swift action over teacher strikes

Premier considers holding emergency sitting on weekend

Premier Kathleen Wynne has said she is prepared to move fast — even over the weekend — to end strikes in three school boards if she gets advice that the student year is in jeopardy.

Wynne is awaiting a report by an arm’s-length expert panel as to whether high school teacher strikes in Durham, Peel and the Sudbury district are threatening the school year for nearly 70,000 students.

The chair of the Education Relations Commission told the Star Thursday he expected a decision “in the near future,” but Chris Albertyn did not say precisely when.

“I don’t know whether there will be a ruling out on the weekend (but) we would act as quickly as we can,” Wynne told reporters during a visit Friday to Baycrest Health Services — suggesting an emergency sitting could be held Saturday or Sunday to pass back-to-work legislation.

“The fact is, if you’ll remember, the House was brought back when there was TTC labour unrest,” she said, referring to a rare weekend sitting in April 2008 that forced 9,000 striking members of the Amalgamated Transit Union back on the job.

Members of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation walked off the job April 20 in Durham and April 27 in Sudbury and May 4 in Peel. With only weeks left before exams and the end of the year, panic is setting in among students and families that the year could be lost.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Friday her party typically opposes back-to-work legislation, and “I think that the best way to get through these kinds of situations is to actually bargain seriously at the bargaining table.” With files from Kristin Rushowy